metronomes and notes

okay so everyone tells me to practice with a metro when i say i want to become faster and more on point with my picking but how is one used and what are the different speeds of picking- and how do they relate to the ticking of the metro? can someone give me a break down? so..8th notes would be completing 8 notes between a tick and tock of the metro? and 16th notes is 16 notes within the same period? how is that even possible lol? also what is an average starting speed for a first time metro user and what is considered reasonably fast?like good enough to play , say thrash..not necessarilly new metal..help a brutha out.TY

Start fairly slow, say at 60-70 bpm and play 8th notes, triplets and 16th notes. Make sure the notes are evenly spaced out and each note must be exactly the same lenght. Increase the tempo as you get comfortable.

You need to understand one thing, a metronome does NOT make you "faster", its there to help make you more accurate.

You don't set the speed you want to play at and "train yourself up to it", that simply doesn't work. You set the metronome to speeds at which you're able to play comfortably and work on improving your technique at that tempo, improving your control, ensuring your timing is accurate and making yor movements as economical as possible. Once your consistently playing something accurately and correctly, then you can look at increasing the tempo by a few bpm. It's not a race, and this isn't something where you'll see overnight results - you'll be looking at a timeframe of weeks and months to see noticeable improvement.